


How Long?

by AloefiedEgg



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Crush at First Sight, Crushes, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gay, Gay Male Character, Gay Sex, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Crush, Weddings, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:40:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloefiedEgg/pseuds/AloefiedEgg
Summary: Mark has always had feelings for Ethan, and Ethan has always felt the same about him. When it comes down to it, neither knows the other has feelings but both hope for it every night before bed. Will they be able to confess and start a life together? Read ahead to find out!
Relationships: Crankiplier, Mark Fischbach & Ethan Nestor, Mark Fischbach/Ethan Nestor
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoy!

Mark sat on his couch, patiently awaiting Ethan who'd been preparing to come downstairs so they could go get dinner together with Kathryn and Amy after seeing a movie. They decided it would be fun to go out, they hadn't had a friends night out in ages! They'd been so busy with their own lives and work it wasn't even imaginable. Mark decided to wear a nice red and black long-sleeve since it was chilly out tonight, a black knitted infinity scarf draped over his shoulders. He looked up the stairs from where he sat, looking down to see Spencer whipping one of his favorite rope toys around. The dog stopped to look up at Mark, a look of familiarity and kindness in his eyes before he sprinted upstairs, seemingly to find Ethan and say, "Hello! I have rope toy" in his silly little dog way. Dogs always made mark smile, he had his own at home, Chica. He loved Chica with his entire heart, and couldn't wait to see her after a night of fun with his friends. Finally Ethan came downstairs, Amy and Kathryn were getting ready somewhere else, Mark couldn't quite place a finger on where but they stated that they wanted a girls trip before going to get food with the guys. It was an interesting concept to Mark and Ethan, as they never really went on 'guy trips', but Mark considered it heavily. Mark and Ethan both have their own YouTube channels with over a million subscribers each, so they were a bit caught up. Mark would love some quality time with Ethan though, that boy always made his heart happy. Speaking of which...

"Ready to go?" Ethan asked Mark, as if Mark hadn't been waiting for him this whole time. Mark nodded, not bringing attention to that silly fact as to not make Ethan feel dumb, I mean, they sometimes had bits about it in videos, but he never meant it, and the last thing he wanted was for Ethan to be hurt by his words. "Then let's go!" Ethan said excitedly, offering his hand to Mark so they could both stand up. They'd planned to meet at an AMC theater not too far from them, so Mark walked over to the passenger side of his Tesla, waiting for Ethan to finish locking up his apartment. Ethan locked the door, and immediately ran over to the car. Mark opened the passenger door for him, letting him get in before running over to the driver's side and getting into the seat, starting up the car. Mark drove to the theater, chatting with Ethan occasionally on the way but the theater wasn't much more than a 10 minute drive so just as soon as the conversation had begun it had ended. Mark got out of the car first, watching Ethan patiently sit in the passenger seat with a jokingly posh expression. With a stereotypical British accent, the one he seemed to favor so much these days, he said to Mark, no, he commanded of Mark, "Open my door, servant!" to which Mark happily complied and went along with stating, "Yes of course Master Nestor!" 

Ethan and Mark laughed the whole way up to the theater where Amy and Kathryn were waiting patiently for them. "Sorry, were we holding you up?" Mark asked. "No not at all, we just got here!" Amy replied, excitedly. 

"What movie were we gonna see again?" Ethan asked.

"It's called Freaky, I won't spoil the premise for you guys but I've heard it's awesome!" Kathryn replied, turning to look at a poster featuring the movie. It looked interesting enough for Mark to be happily anticipating it as they walked up to the ticket booth, a shared air of excitement surrounding them. "4 tickets please!" Mark said to the woman at the ticket counter. She seemed to blush lightly and stutter when he spoke to her, but Mark didn't seem to notice. Amy however, did, and she leaned over to Mark as they were all walking together and said, "That girl was TOTALLY into you Mark!" with a laugh. Mark looked at her, quizzically. "Really? I didn't even notice" he said, Amy laughing while stopping the leaning toward him. They made it past the ticket checkers before heading to the snack counter and getting 2 big buckets of popcorn. Then, they made their way to the theater and into their seats. They sat in order from left to right, Mark, Ethan, Kathryn, and Amy. Popcorn shared between Mark and Ethan and popcorn shared between Kathryn and Amy. The movie was awesome, but about 40 minutes in something strange happened. Mark went to get popcorn at the same time as Ethan, and they're hands brushed. Mark blushed lightly at it, he wasn't sure of why something like that small of a touch made his heart flutter when they'd seen each other naked, but maybe it was the intimacy of it. That wasn't all too weird, nothing Mark couldn't pass off as ordinary. What was weird, was that Mark saw Ethan blush too. It was during a scene in the movie with lightning, so the bright flashing white showed the redness on his cheeks for just a moment, but they were definitely flush. It was strange, but the rest of the movie went on in peace. After another hour passed and the movie had ended, they left the theater to head to dinner, nothing else happened in the theater, but that moment held a special place in his heart. Amy looked down at the pavement as soon as they exited the theater, as if she was guilty. Mark noticed Kathryn had the same look. Kathryn spoke up, "To be honest, we got food before the movie when we were hanging out. We totally thought we'd be hungry by now but..." 

"We're not, sorry guys" Amy finished for her. Mark nodded understandingly, "No worries! You two head home, me and Ethan are going to get some food!" he said smiling. Ethan nodded in agreement, "Enjoy your night!" he added, waving as they walked off. Mark looked over at Ethan, noticing an air of nervousness around him. "Hey Ethan..." Mark started, seeing Ethan tense up, "If you're not hungry or anything like that we don't have to actually go anywhere for dinner."

"Oh no, it's nothing like that," Ethan said, smiling reassuringly. "Okay good! I'm starved!" Mark joked, starting to walk to a local restaurant only a 5 minute walk from the theater.


	2. Dinner With Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark and Ethan get dinner together, seeing as the girls already ate!

Ethan followed closely behind, greatly anticipating having dinner with Mark. He'd always had a crush on him, from the day he found his channel. He'd never tell him, of course, since he could never reciprocate. Mark being so excited to have dinner with him, and the blush that adorned his cheeks in the theater gave Ethan slight hope, but he knew not to hold onto that feeling. Mark was confident, funny, humble, sweet, and hard-working. Way out of Ethan's league. Even if he wasn't straight, he still wouldn't want to date Ethan. Still, in the back of his mind, there was an echo. It said, "Someday you'll wake up in his bed in his arms, warm, smiling and seeing his face when you roll over. Someday he'll offer to hold the door open for you as an act of love and romance" and that echo made him smile. Even if the hope was seemingly misplaced, it made him happy, so why not indulge in it from time to time. He realized he'd been walking in silence with Mark this whole time, and began profusely apologizing for the lack of conversation. "No worries!" Mark replied with that handsome smile of his, and Ethan smiled back as Mark held the door to the restaurant open for him. Ethan walked in, keeping an eye on Mark close behind him before getting seated at a table by the waiter. People tended to bother and stare at Mark, he was used to it, but sometimes he was scared for Mark due to how oblivious he was to it. He _was_ incredibly handsome after all. The waitress took their orders, Mark getting a burger and Ethan getting the same. They were combo meals so they came with fries and drinks too, Mark getting a water and Ethan getting a soda. Ethan considered getting some type of alcohol, before deciding getting drunk probably wouldn't do him any good.

* * *

**An Hour And A Half Later**

* * *

Mark and Ethan were back at Ethan's house, Kathryn wasn't there so she must have been staying with Amy. Ethan and Mark had gotten home from the restaurant full and happy, they even had some fun conversation and good laughs while doing so. What was interesting about the current situation is, Ethan was drunk. Not black out drunk of course, but certainly not thinking entirely _straight_. Ethan looked at Mark and smiled, thinking about how much he loved him before stating, slightly slurring his words, "Mark, you're the prettiest funniest man I've ever-seen," speeding up on the last two words making them sound like one. Mark blushed, looking at Ethan smiling, "Th-thank you Ethan, are you just saying that because you're drunk?" he asked, looking at the half full bottle of vodka sitting on the end table by the couch, his glass half empty. The vodka bottle was originally only three-fourths full, but that means he'd had an entire fourth of a bottle of vodka by this point. Mark pushed his glass down onto the table, making Ethan look at him curiously. "No, I'm saying that because I think it's true!" Ethan finally replied. Mark smiled at this, looking into Ethan's eyes as the boy smiled excitedly. "We should go hang out some time! Boysday!" Ethan said excitedly speeding up the end of his sentence again. Mark smiled and nodded, "I'd be happy to! For sure!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter, the Ethan perspective ones will be less common but I still want to sprinkle them in for some variety!


	3. Drunken Passenger

Ethan was drunk, looking at Mark smiling and complimenting over and over again. Ethan asked suddenly, "Mark, have you ever had a crush on me?" 

Mark stopped to think, "Of course the answer was no, right? The butterflies in his stomach and heart, the light feeling of being around Ethan, it couldn't be _romantic_ , it couldn't be a crush...right?" Finally Mark just shrugged, an answer Ethan wasn't prepared for seemingly as he looked at Mark with surprise. "W-That's not a no?" Ethan said, struck by shock. Mark realized how that could make Ethan uncomfortable and started to apologize, "Ethan I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" being cut off by Ethan saying, "No no, it's'ok", slurring on the last two words again. Mark nodded, a concerned look on his face, "Okay, if you say so!" before smiling at Ethan. Ethan nodded, before asking if Mark wanted to go home. "I mean, it is getting late right?" he reasoned.

Mark thought for a moment before saying, "Well, sure it is, but you're drunk, you can't drive back, I'll just stay over if that's okay!"

Ethan nodded, politely stating, "Of course it is! You're always welcome!" but deep down Ethan looked as if he wanted to say something else. 

"Are you sure? I don't have to have you drive me, I can get an Uber," Mark asked, concerned for if he was taking advantage of Ethan's kindness.

"No no, I want you here if you want to be here!" Ethan responded, the slurring of his speech stopping as if he'd suddenly been sobered up. Mark looked deep into his eyes, with a hint of skepticism, before trusting Ethan for his word and saying, "Alright, I'll sleep on the couch then!" Ethan paused, thinking for a moment, before saying, "Well wouldn't a bed be more comfortable?"

Mark looked at him, confused, before he continued, "You can sleep in my bed with me, if you're comfortable! What's a shared bed between friends, after all?"

Mark wanted to say no, I mean he was already staying the night here he didn't need to be invading poor Ethan's bed, but something in him made him nod at the notion. The idea of it seemed so comforting and nice to Mark, he knew with this whole trying to figure out how he felt about Ethan thing it truly would've been better just to sleep on the couch to prevent any embarrassing scenarios but it was as if Mark had no control over his own actions. Ethan seemed enthusiastic as well about the situation, almost immediately pulling Mark along to his room after seeing him nod. Mark had been following behind Ethan as he thought deeply about the situation. "What if Ethan had a crush on me?" he thought, before brushing it off as impossible. Ethan never acted any specific way toward Mark, only really complimenting him heavily enough for an outsider to consider it 'flirting' when he was drunk, but that's just how their friendship was. Neither had romantic attraction in the other, they just weren't afraid of being more close. Suddenly, Mark felt a hand on his chest. Ethan was looking at him, concerned yet blushing, seemingly from the alcohol. "Are you okay Mark?" Ethan asked, the concern flooding into his speech. 

"Yeah! Why what's up?" Mark asked, shaking his head clear of all of the thoughts clouding his mind. "You were spaced out for a hot minute there, did you hear what I said?" Ethan asked, the concern softening.

"No, not at all, what was it?" Mark replied, quizzically.

Ethan blushed further, answering with, "Nothing important," as he looked away.

Mark was near oblivious, but not quite. He looked into Ethan's eyes, Ethan looked back. "What's wrong?" Mark asked. 

"Nothing's wrong, Mark," Ethan snapped, before holding his hands up to his mouth in surprise. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-...Can we just go for a drive?" Ethan asked, uncharacteristically. Mark thought to himself, pondering why Ethan of all people would want to go for a drive at this time of night. "Maybe he wants me to go home and this is how he's doing it? I won't let him come back alone though" Mark concluded in his mind. "Sure thing, bud" Mark replied, looking at Ethan with a soft and concerned gaze.

They walked outside, getting into Ethan's car and starting to drive. Mark slowed down, barely under speed limit so they could talk. Ethan looked at him wistfully before stating, "Mark, have you ever seen someone and you felt like your heart started to beat faster than ever?" Mark looked at him and nodded, thinking to himself about how he felt with Ethan. "And have you ever felt your mind spin when you brushed hands with someone or saw them do something that you found cute?" he asked. Over and over Mark is reminded of how Ethan makes him feel, as he lists these things Mark's experienced because of him. Mark nods once again. "Mark, who was that with?" Ethan questioned, a hint of fear in his voice. "Why was Ethan asking all of these weird questions, and why did he seem to know how I felt about him?" Mark thought. "Why?" Mark finally asked in response.

"I...I was just curious..." Ethan finally said, trailing off and seemingly giving up.

Mark turned his eyes back to the street, it was long, straight, and empty, so it's not like he had to, he just didn't want to see poor Ethan's face. Finally, he decided to just be honest with him. "It was with you" he said, so low only hopeful ears could gather the sound. Ethan looked at him, shocked, before smiling. "What does that mean?" Mark asked.

Ethan laughed, stating "That's love, real love, romantic love! A crush!" 

Mark's driving swerved slightly as blush raced up his neck all the way to his widow's peak and tips of his ears. "W-What!?" he asked, shocked, "Really? For you?"

Ethan nodded, "You can just let it pass if you don't want to-"'

"NO! I'd...I mean if you want to..date or something" Mark interrupted with confidence before immediately fading out in tone. 

Ethan grinned, "YES! I'd love to, Mark!"

"You would?" Mark questioned happily. 

"Of course! You've been my hero like...forever!" Ethan exclaimed, "God I love you Mark"

"I love you too, Ethan!" Mark replied.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed feel free to leave a comment and if you didn't criticism is always welcome!


End file.
